The overriding characteristic of the huge V-twin is the honkingly massive amount of torque available. A peak of 115[ftlb] come in at a barely-above tickover 2500rpm. This makes the bike exceptionally fast off the line with no rider effort. Big V-twins are never silky smooth but it’s better than most. It’s a high tech engine, not simply a bored out antique.

To create the biggest of the big, Twin Cam 96 crankcases are machined to accept a pair of big-bore cylinders. Inside, 4.0-inch pistons move through the same 4.4-inch stroke employed in the TC96. But because bigger, heavier pistons would net more vibration along with more power, the 110’s forged slugs are light. Reciprocating mass is essentially the same as in the smaller-bore 96, so both engines use the same crankshaft, flywheel and anti-vibe hardware.

The Nightster isn't exactly light at a claimed 545lb dry weight (claimed 565lbs ready-to-run), but the center of gravity is fairly low, and this combines with the wide bars to make aggressive riding easy, even at around-town speeds. Out of all the cruisers I've ridden, the Nightster would be high on my list if my plans involved a lot of city riding - it's almost like a (really low) standard in terms of how it attacks city traffic. Just be careful of those wide bars while splitting lanes!

...the incredible diesel device I found waiting for me to ride in the Bavarian countryside south of Munich, masquerading at a swift glance as an American-style cruiser with a big parallel-twin motor that could easily resemble Triumph's forthcoming 1500cc custom, is a bike literally unlike any other, and not only because of its choice of fuel.

Unlike other kit bikes mounting monster rear tires that were fitted more for looks than for actual riding, Victory made sure that the Hammer was a rider's motorcycle. To meet that goal, Victory's engineers built a new, bigger engine to complement the specially designed rear Dunlop. The Hammer is the first Victory to displace 100 cubic inches (that's 1634cc for the metrically inclined) and sport a six-speed transmission with a true overdrive.

If the Rune is a gift, the eye is the first to profit. Never have we seen such finesse -- such attention to detail -- in a production [motorycle]. There is hardly a physical flaw to grumble over, and the closest we've come is to criticize the Rune logo on the sleek, seamless tank, which appears to be a stick-on graphic that causes a rise in the thick clearcoat. A Princess and the Pea issue, for sure. We adore [its] '50s-hotrod-meets-Rocketeer styling, but the thing that really makes it work is the depth of detail. The [Rune] is totally integrated "like a puzzle," says Blank. "Each layer must be absolutely perfect before the next layer is applied." These [motorcycles] are built on a line, but at a speed that lends to a "handcrafted" result. "There are so many white glove inspections," says Blank, "that the approval process takes as long as it does to build some other [motorcycles]."

The most significant new model announced then, the new Royal Star Tour Deluxe, will be in dealers by the end of the month, and most of the remaining models in Yamaha's 2005 cruiser line—including all the significantly changed models— will be available in July. Only a few minor-change models will wait until August or later to trickle in to dealer showrooms. The Ventures are scheduled for August deliveries to dealers, and the standard Warrior and some V-Star models.

The 1800F wears a new look for the VTX series that's sort of a tough rendition of the VTX1800C. It shares that bike's 4.8-gallon fuel tank (now with a seamless configuration) and footpegs, but the style is made more aggressive with bobbed fenders, 18-inch wheels with low-profile radial rubber, a smaller headlight, its own echausr system, a new high-rise handlebar, flush LED taillight, wedge-shaped mirrors (shared with the C), and other details like new fender rails, visors on clear-lens turn signals (also shared with the C), and LCD instrumentation that includes a bar-graph-style tachometer as well as a clock.